weekend
by pawneeruraljuror
Summary: Tony, Pepper, and Morgan have a family weekend. or tony is a goof, morgan is too, pepper just rolls with it. [orginally a one-shot titled friday night, but more ideas came to me so it's going to be chaptered].
1. friday

It had been a long week at Stark Industries. Pepper Potts wanted nothing more than to have a quiet, relaxing evening with her husband and her daughter. Seconds after walking into the house she quickly realized that wouldn't be the case.

Toys, furniture, and pillows were strewn about. Blankets covering the floor, all remnants of what had clearly been used as a fort. Pepper was glad she hadn't taken off her shoes otherwise the many Legos on the floor would have certainly caused her pain. From the hallway, she heard loud footsteps approaching quickly. Tony Stark appeared running at full speed, his feet slowing just before almost crashing into his wife.

"Oh, hey honey, we didn't hear you come home," he said out of breath, looking up at the brown haired girl currently sitting on his shoulders.

"Hey mommy, did you see me?" Morgan said giddily. "I was flying, just like daddy does in his suits."

Pepper replied with a smile "I sure did sweetheart," she said while leaning towards Tony and smirked at him, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before giving one to Morgan.

Tony gently removed Morgan from his shoulders, placing her on her feet before she scampered away to her Tinkertoy, returning to something she had previously been building. Pepper watched as her daughter built something no child her age should be smart enough to piece together.

She looked at Tony, "she is like you more and more every day." Tony just smiled smugly, "yes dear, but she got your looks," he said before giving her another kiss.

—

Tony was helping Morgan rebuild her fort, as Pepper sat and watched, leaning against the couch since the cushions were being currently being used as a bed inside the fort. Tony was spouting off the logistics of the best way to build a fort while Morgan was listening to every word and following every move Tony made. If Tony was going to build a fort for his daughter, it was going to be the best fort he'd ever build.

Once finished, Morgan entered the fort with Tony quickly following behind. They settled on the makeshift bed, also known as the couch cushions, and Morgan poked her head out from a split in the blankets, looking for her mom. "Come on, mom, it's a lot of fun in here, I promise," Morgan said with her best puppy dog eyes. That was all Pepper needed to join her daughter and her husband inside the fort.

The fort was bigger than expected once inside, with plenty of space for all three of them.

"Okay, Morguna you got us in the fort, now what?" Tony questioned.

Morgan bolted out of the fort, ran out of the room and returned with a box in her small hands. She placed it in the center and Pepper laughed lightly as she saw what Morgan had gone to retrieve. Tony glanced at Pepper and beamed remembering the memory from years ago. _"It's like Operation. You just don't let it touch the socket wall or it goes "beep." "What's Operation— What do you mean, "Operation?" "It's just a game, never mind." _The game that their daughter loved so much, was also one that had a small piece of history in her parent's life.

After a few rounds of Operation, Morgan started to grow tired and ultimately fell asleep between her parents. With Morgan nestled between them, Tony and Pepper exchanged gentle glances, both reveling in the fact their little family was all they needed to be happy.

Raising his eyes from his daughter to his wife, Tony quietly asked, "Hey Pep, did you ever think, we would get here? A daughter who's too smart for our own good, lying between us on any given Friday night?"

Running her hand softly through her daughter's dark brown hair, Pepper thoughtfully replied, "no, but I'm sure glad we did."

They both remained in silence for a while longer appreciating their current reality.

—

They moved Morgan into her room, careful not to wake her when walking up the stairs before heading to their own room. Pepper was sitting in bed against the headboard, a book in her hand but instead watched as Tony continued his night time routine, knowing every move he was going to make. She was filled with comfort at the normality of it all, a love for and from a man she wasn't sure she would ever be able to experience was her reality. Tony thought back to the nights he had prepared for bed alone, and was happy he was now able to fall asleep next to the one person he loved more than anyone.

Tony climbed into bed, Pepper closed her book, put it on her nightstand and turned out the lights.

Tony softly joked "you know, I'm still surprised you didn't know what Operation was, it's a very popular game, Pep."

Pepper turned her head to look at Tony, and though it was dark, rolled her eyes slightly "I was a little too consumed by you and your antics to be worried about children's games you know."

Tony chuckled before saying "Oh, you were consumed with me were you?"

Pepper replied matter-of-factly, "by you Tony, not with you."

All Tony said in response was "if you say so, honey."

After a few more moments of silence, Tony spoke again, "I think that's when I started to know."

"Know what?" Pepper said tiredly, having begun to drift off.

Tony said simply, "that I was in love with you, or falling in love with you, whatever you want to call it."

Pepper turned to face Tony, her eyes now adjusted to the dark, and looked at him, his face filled with devotion. She smiled skeptically, "Really Tony, the time I sent you into cardiac arrest is when you realized that?"

"Yes… I knew I could trust you, and you know what I would do it again," Tony said warmly before questioning her, "and you know why?"

"No, why?" she replied, waiting for the answer. Tony kissed her forehead before tenderly saying the words that could make her fall in love all over again.

"Because it's you. It's always been you."

She leaned in and gave him a delicate kiss before moving closer allowing him to wrap his arms around her, feeling the warmth of his skin and knowing that no quiet evening would be better than one spent with the man she loved most in the world and the little girl down the hall that they had created with that love.


	2. saturday

Author's Note

—

Thanks to all of you who read the first story. It was originally going to be a one-shot but I kept coming up with ideas and enjoyed writing the first one so figured I'd continue. Thank you for the kind comments, favorites, and follows. I very much appreciate it.

—

_saturday._

Morgan had woken up early. She rubbed her eyes, immediately heard her stomach growl and was soon on the hunt for some food. It's wasn't long before she was out of her bed having wandered around the house, hoping her parents were already up. Having searched every room in the house, she headed to her parents' room, finding them both asleep. She headed back to the kitchen.

Tony woke up to the clatter of metal from a distance. He quietly looked over at his wife, who was still sleeping softly, gave her quick kiss on the forehead and whispered, "I love you" before getting out of bed, and closed the door to the bedroom allowing her to sleep a bit longer. Tony walked towards the sound, which he soon realized was coming from the kitchen. He entered, finding his daughter surrounded by cooking pans and multiple ingredients sitting on the floor.

Tony looked down at his daughter, and with a humorous whisper said, "Morgan H. Stark, what do you think you're doing?"

Morgan just laughed happily and said, "I was hungry, and you and mom were asleep."

"Oh, hungry were we? And what were you planning to make?" he asked.

"Waffles." was all Morgan said.

Tony laughed and smiled at his daughter, "Okay, waffles it is, my dear. But I'm going to make you eat some fruit too, or your mom might hurt me."

"Okay," Morgan sighed, "but no strawberries, they make mommy sick". Tony grinned at his daughter, amazed that she was able to remember almost every little detail she had ever been told. She was going to be smarter than him one day if he wasn't careful.

Pepper awoke to the familiar smell of breakfast being cooked, and seeing that Tony was gone had a knowing feeling that he was certainly the reason, she just hoped he hadn't made too big a mess. She promptly threw her hair up into a ponytail before walking to the kitchen to find her suspicions confirmed, her husband and her daughter were covered in flour, laughing.

"What is all this?" she asked, looking at the mess. She glanced at Tony with inquiring eyes, who was less than concerned about the mess since he would not be the one cleaning it up.

"It's um, breakfast… For you of course," he said before giving her a sly grin she couldn't say no to.

Pepper gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before picking up Morgan in her arms. "I wanted some waffles and daddy said he'd help me," Morgan said enthusiastically before her mother gave her kiss on her forehead.

"I'm sure he did. You know waffles are one of your dad's favorites. I think it's because he can get away with eating an ungodly amount of sugar so early in the day." Pepper told her daughter slightly glaring at Tony but with nothing but love in her eyes.

"Don't worry Pep, we've got some fruit too. So it's healthy," said Tony cheekily, before giving Pepper a quick wink. She only smiled and looked back at her daughter.

"But no strawberries, they make you feel bad" Morgan said confidently beaming while Pepper grinned at her.

She looked to Tony, "see honey, our child can remember, I don't know why you can't." before giving him a soft smile.

Tony just shrugged and returned her smile.

—

It was mid-afternoon and they were all settled in the same room. Tony tinkered on his new project, Morgan was working on her own project but was mostly watching her dad and Pepper was getting some work done on her computer. Pepper had put some soft jazz on the record player, not Tony's signature AC/DC playlist but as long as his family was happy, so was he.

About an hour had passed and Morgan was no longer working on her own projects and had devoted her full attention to her dad, following him around as he worked. Even Pepper had now stopped her work, content with watching her daughters happiness in following her father around, helping him with anything and everything she could. A familiar song started playing from the record player, Tony stopped what he was doing and turned to Pepper on the couch.

"Remember this one, honey?" giving her a loving look.

"Oh yes, I don't know how I could ever forget," Pepper said, laughing and smiling at the memory. _"You want to dance?" "Oh, no." "All right, come on." "No, I —"_ In that moment, years ago she could never have imagined that she would one day be raising a child with the man she had danced with on that night.

Tony laughed at the memory too, remembering Pepper in that blue dress he had "bought" her, refusing to dance with him. _"I actually don't think that you could tie your shoes without me."_ Tony thought about the statement, she had been right about that, but not in the way she thought, knowing now how much she meant to him.

"You really didn't want to dance with me," he joked with her before walking over to her, sitting on the couch beside her and giving her a kiss "I'm glad you did though," he said, as his wife rested her head on his shoulder. "I can't be sure but it's probably part of the reason we have that crazy ball of energy running around the house 24/7." He pointed to Morgan who was sitting on the floor fiddling with a task Tony had given her to help him with his project. Pepper chuckled happily. They both glanced at their daughter, watching as she happily tinkered.

"More and more like you every day," Pepper said rolling her eyes frivolously, before Tony responded, "I don't know how you manage us Pep, we're hard work."

"Yes you are, and neither do I, but it's worth it," she said sincerely, looking up to smile at Tony.

"Morgan H. Stark", Tony shouted lightly, earning the attention of the young girl sitting in front of them. "Come here."

Morgan walked over to her parents, Tony speaking again before she reached them. "You know your mom and I danced to this song a long time ago, even though she didn't want too." Tony winked at Pepper who just smiled.

"Mommy, that's mean, why wouldn't you want to dance with daddy. He's the best dancer ever." Morgan delighted.

"Oh is he now?" was all Pepper said grinning at her daughter then looked to her husband who was flushed with pride.

"You know what Morguna, you just earned yourself a dance," Tony said as he stood up from the couch and picked his daughter up in his arms, swaying back and forth before putting her back on her feet, "Okay kiddo, I want to teach you something, you think you're up for learning something from your dear old dad." Morgan only nodded and smiled, happiness in her eyes.

"Okay, now, I want you to step on my shoes," Morgan looked up at her dad, confused. Tony glanced down at her, "it's alright, I promise." She did as she was told, Tony faked a wince when she did, smiling down at her "wow, when did you get so big," he joked before placing a kiss on the top of her head.

"Good, now hold my hands real tight, so you don't fall", Morgan grinned while Tony leaned down and whispered, "not that I would ever let that happen."

Tony took small steps in every direction while the light jazz music played in the background, gazing in amazement at the little girl. He would somehow never understand how he got so lucky. He glanced at Pepper who was still sitting on the couch, who was with all her strength trying not to tear up, but failing miserably.

After a few more moments, his daughter looked up at him, "can mommy dance with us too?"

Tony looked down at his daughter, "of course she can," he said before looking over at his wife as he pulled his daughter up into his arms once more.

"What do you say, mom, you want to dance with us?" he asked, knowing by his wife's eyes what she would say. Pepper smiled at her husband and stood up, walking over to the two people who mattered most to her. She grabbed Tony's free hand he offered to her, Morgan laid her head against her dad's chest and Pepper leaned into Tony, resting her forehead on his.

"Don't mind dancing with me now, do you?" he said looking into to her eyes with all the love in the world. She replied by giving him a kiss and returning his loving look. Admiring each other, they both remembered that dance in the blue dress, thinking how every moment including that one led to the one they were having now.

—

The day was almost over but Morgan was as wired as ever. Running around the house at full force while Tony and Pepper sat on the couch, worn out from their daughter wanting to play with them, every minute of the day, not that they minded.

"Morgan, please be careful, I don't want to be taking a trip to the hospital anytime soon," Pepper warned her daughter as Tony began to speak.

"You know what I think we need to end this day?" Tony called out to Morgan.

"Juice pops," Morgan replied with excitement.

"Correct you are ma'am, are you sure you're my daughter, you're a bit too smart for me," he teased Morgan before looking over at Pepper smiling, knowing that his wife would not be pleased that he was going to give their already energized daughter a juice pop.

"Really Tony, you're going to give her sugar, at this hour?" Pepper smiled at him absurdly, knowing anything she said wouldn't change his mind.

"I don't know why you're worried, honey. I got sugar-free this time, they were really hard to find, and if they're not as good, I'm blaming you" he laughed before leaning down to give a kiss. Pepper just rolled her eyes faintly, amused that he had gone through the trouble to make sure he had bought the sugar-free variety, so she couldn't get mad at him.

Regardless of the late hour, they all had a juice pop or two. Tony had about three.

"Okay, Morguna, time for bed, let's go," Tony told his daughter, Pepper calling out after her "and please don't forget to brush your teeth."

Tony grabbed two more juice pops from the box and handed one to his wife.

"Tony, you've had enough, the box is empty because of you," Pepper said to no avail taking the juice pop and opening it anyway as her husband did the same.

"It's not my fault they're so good. Hey, maybe Stark Industries should go into the juice pop business, I know they'd have at least one customer who'd be happy about it," he said, tilting his head towards the hallway their daughter has just disappeared into.

"If only there was someone I knew who had some pull at the company," Pepper joked, giving him a kiss, taking the finished juice pop stick from his hand and throwing away all the trash.

She returned from the other side of the kitchen, wrapping her arms around her husband from behind and resting her chin on his broad shoulder.

"I never did thank you for the waffles this morning," Pepper stated, turning her head to kiss his cheek. "Turns out our daughter is pretty good at making waffles."

Tony smiled, agreeing with his wife, "that girl can do it all, one day she is going to rule us all, I'm not sure how we got so lucky." Tony said turning to face Pepper, giving her a simple kiss before she replied.

"She's half of you and half of me" was all Pepper said, smiling at her husband, leaning into him rest her forehead on his, still unsure how they got so lucky to find each other.

"Think we should go check on that girl of ours, make sure she's actually in bed, she is half mine, as you said," Tony smiled at his wife as she nodded in agreement.

Morgan was fast asleep in her bed, as her parents stood outside her door looking at the perfect little girl they had created. They both stood outside their daughter's door for a few minutes more holding on to each other at the waist acknowledging that through their many years together, they had somehow ended up here, outside their daughter's door, holding each other with more love than they both imagined was humanly possible.

Author's Note

—

Thanks to all of you for reading.

—


End file.
